Educational Psychology: The Key to Prevention and Child-Adolescent Mental Health.

Abstract

Educational psychology ranks second, after clinical psychology, in terms of professional activity profiles but in recent decades, the role of the educational psychologist has blurred. The specialized literature was reviewed, and previous works by the author on the subject were updated. This article emphasizes the relevance of educational psychology for the prevention and promotion of child and adolescent mental health. For this purpose, we must delimit the functions of the psychologist in educational contexts, differentiating it from other professional roles. To this end: (1) the main functions of the educational psychologist with students, their families, and teachers are proposed; (2) the postgraduate training necessary to perform these functions is described; and (3) the relevant role that educational centers can play in the promotion of child and adolescent mental health is shown, using, as an example, two problems: Bullying-cyberbullying and depression in childhood and adolescence. Schools should incorporate educational psychologists to develop assessment, prevention, and intervention activities, and schools must be contexts where emotional well-being is promoted and psychological and mental health problems are prevented. The work makes a proposal for intervention from educational psychology.